Thanks, all!
Didn’t take any photos, but here’s what we ordered:
Baba ganoush
Duck ‘nduja
Squash blossoms
Prawns
Tomatoes
Oxtail
Persian mulberry sorbet
Snickers ice cream bar
It was a fabulous meal. Service was excellent, and we had a bottle of Italian red from 2017.
The dips are spreads really are a highlight. That pita is dreamy and the fried one that comes with the baba is great, too.
My favorites were the dips, prawns, and tomatoes. But the entire table was happy.
Gotta go back for lamb neck!
Alas…I wanted the lamb and was outvoted.
The oxtail was great and the crispy elements in the rice was nice, but it was pretty fatty.
I did adore the mulberry sorbet…I don’t think I’ve ever had anything like it before.
The sorbet sounds most excellent. I am amazed that mulberries are still in season. My mulberry plants were done giving fruit over 2 months ago.
They also have the lamb shawarma recipe in their book if anyone wants to take a crack at it. I recall it turned out well (even though we didn’t make it with neck) with two caveats: 1) the amount of salt recommended was absurdly too high (even with the less dense Diamond Kosher salt) so I’d cut it back to .5tsp/lb and 2) the spice blend seemed a little off so we’d probably pre-grind the spices individually and measure volumetrically as presented in the book to see if that yielded a closer result.
The mulberry sorbet could have been made months ago.
It’s been some years since my visit but the mushrooms, and chicken liver really stood out. I don’t think I’ve had a better mushroom dish. Second place would be the mushroom tacos at BS Taqueria.
This restaurant was good the first time they served the same dishes that we’ve now had 20 times. It’s a bore now. A menu that never changes except when the menu is wrong. They say they have lobster tagine on the menu now — the only reason we went — but announced they were out of it when we tried to order. The same thing happened twice before when they said duck confit was on the menu and it wasn’t—even though we went just for that. Would you like to have the same old hummus instead? The food is similar to that of Bestia — bold-flavored, crowd-pleaser food that never changes and isn’t anywhere close to Michelin star level. They both have exactly the same over-spice-crusted fish on their menus. The steak seems to be the same too. Done with both of them. What do the chefs even do when the menu never changes? Zero new ideas in 15 years. Thank you Dunsmoor for trying.
When you said “they say” do you mean the online menu? Or on the printed and they ran out?
I’m fine with a restaurant running out of lobster…seems like a good sign tbh.
Both
Homie that’s not lying to you that’s running out of a dish. Or lobster didn’t come in that day. Or so many other things that could happen. Don’t be a victim.
Do I wish they changed their menu more? Sure.
I think peony and amaro are both right. But the bigger question is: all these years in, why does the service still stink
wasnt the new menu effectively saffys?
Not every restaurant needs a changing menu. There’s a business model where customers go when they want the dishes a place does well.
Whatever pays the rent…
yeah i think it’s a fair defense of the menashes to say that the way they show their creativity and ambition is not by changing the menu, but by opening new and different restaurants
Agreed do I wish ori changed the menus a little more often sure…. Does it stop me from visiting bavel, Saffys, or bestia at least once a year? No!
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it and if you don’t like it go somewhere else, Suing ppl lol I hope you do!
FWIW, these are over the course of about a year as of last fall. Definitely no hyperseasonality, but I don’t think anyone has ever thought of a menashe restaurant as such (though the desserts may offer some counterpoint). Even so, it’s enough of a change for me to return fairly often, having decent cocktails also helps. They’re also not places anyone is going for one singular dish, I’ve been burned plenty of times trying to go for something specific (squash blossoms remain in mind), but a fried pita, nduja hummus, prawns, malawach, etc are consistently executed well enough for me not to sue.
I do concur service is inconsistent, but has never been a major issue in my experience
